The Android team hears your cries and shares your desire to improve the Android Market. Responding to a post in an Android discussion group, Google’s Dan Morrill said that engineers are exploring ways to enhance the Market, some of which were mentioned in our 5 Ways To Improve the Android Market post a week earlier.

Morrill said that Market improvements being considered include:

Adding a separate category for themes and skins

Adding more sorting options to go along with the current “By Popularity” and “By Date” options

Adding a desktop/web version of the Android Market

There is no public timetable for any of these features, so we won’t wake up to a new Android Market anytime in the foreseeable future. However, it’s good to know that Google recognizes the Market’s shortfalls and is “looking into some improvements” to address them. All the ideas in the world mean nothing if the right people aren’t in-tune with user needs.

One thing that also caught my attention when I stumbled across these comments via GoogleAndBlog is that Morrill expected books, not themes, to crowd the market. Maybe it’s just me, but I stare at a computer screen for business and pleasure too much to even entertain the thought of reading an entire book on my phone. I don’t know how you guys do it.

Click here to read the complete discussion that led to Morrill’s comments, posted below.

Yes, we’ve also noticed the rise in things like themes/skins and similar
apps. We are looking into some improvements, such as a new category for
themes. (Speaking only for myself, I expected to see us need a category for
books, but this theme phenomenon was a surprise to me.
The other things you mentioned (new types of sorting such as by rising
stars, and a desktop/web UI) are also on the roadmap, though we don’t have a
timeline for those features yet, or details on how they’ll work.
- Dan

One Comment

I have a crystalview tablet that uses Android. I’m having an issue downloading skype onto the tablet. Unlike most Android devices that have Google Playstore, I have SlideMe Market. I don’t if this is what’s preventing skype from being compatible with my tablet. Please advise. Thanks.